Merry Christmas
by luvtoshi
Summary: Christmas time...my small participation of Naru/Saku Christmas time fic!


Nineteen years old Uzumaki Naruto watched the beautiful, yet different scenery from home unfolding beneath his eyes. He liked Suna, the desert so totally different from the lush green Konoha. The domed houses were dainty from his high vintage point of view – the Kazekage tower, was, after all, the tallest building of Suna – and he watched the crowds milling in the streets which serpented in between the bigger, commercial buildings. It was quite a busy crowd about at this late afternoon hour; it was the day before Christmas Eve. He expected that the crowd would be much bigger on the next day.

His warm breath caused a mist when it made contact with the cold glass as he gave a big sigh. Though he appreciated the scenery, it was nothing like home. Konoha would be covered with white snow by then; they always had beautiful, snow white Christmas. While it was cold – icy cold – in Suna, the dry, almost zero humidity of the Suna climate made it rare that they had snow. And Naruto was missing a snow covered scene. He was missing Konoha. He was missing the excited crowd which must be milling about right now in the white landscape of Konoha village. He was missing all his friends, and he was missing _her_.

He and Shikamaru had arrived in Suna a week earlier, for an urgent, diplomatic mission. Despite the war being over two years ago, the allied force still met quite often for conferences, each time in a different nation. This time, it had been in Suna. Tsunade, the Hokage, had not been able to leave Konoha for this conference; so instead, she had sent the next best acceptable replacement: Naruto, the war hero. And Shikamaru had been asked to accompany him to be of diplomatic expertise, in case needed.

Naruto could not help but cursed the politicians for this lousy timing, to have scheduled the conference during this time of the year, making him miss being home for Christmas. They still had a last meeting scheduled for the 25th, so means he would only get to return back to Konoha well after all the Christmas celebrations would have died out.

He had already got his Christmas gift for his most precious person. An exquisite, antique emerald jewelery set, consisting of a necklace, a ring and a pair of earrings. He had found it in an old shop in Suna. It had cost him a fortune; but he could afford it now; so he had splurged. The emerald reminded him of her eyes; those bright green eyes, framed by pink eyebrows and lashes.

He would give her only the earrings for starter. It would be too inappropriate to give her the necklace. Such an expensive gift would not be appropriate to give to a _friend_. It was even more out of step to give the ring…That was an even harder bridge to cross. He had not even had the nerve to ask her out for a date since years now – since he had stepped out of childhood - and wondered whether he would ever have the courage to do so; thus, presenting her with the ring, and what it implied, seemed even more far fetched. So, the ring will probably remain with him for a very long time to come, until the day came when he would need it. If he would need it, he thought gloomily.

The story was not that unheard of. They started by being team mates, then became friends. Good friends. Best friends, even. They grew into adulthood together, got stronger together, had always been there for each other. And he was madly in love with her. And she only saw him as a good friend. He had to always ensure that he held his real feelings under check while being around her, in fear of breaking their friendship. He found it so difficult to cross that boundary, even though the path is clear.

Sasuke was out of the situation. Sasuke was dead. Surprisingly, she had not broken down, as he had been expecting. Sure, she had shed tears on his funeral, but no more, no less than himself. The days, months and years following, she has been strong, cheerful and bright, not broken black widow that he had been fearing. And she had always been there for him, always his friend; his scary, always scolding, yelling, hot tempered teammate that she had always been, taking every opportunity to mother-hen over him, looking after him, badgering him to eat healthily. But he still hesitated; he did not know how to get to it.

A reflection appeared besides him.

"You look sad," Gaara the Kazekage remarked.

Naruto immediately pinned a bright smile on his face and waved him off. "No, it's great to be spending Christmas in Suna," he said cheerfully.

Gaara looked at him lengthily, and shook his head slowly. "You are missing home," he stated calmly. Without any further words, he spun around and walked away, leaving the office.

Naruto looked at his departing back, perplexed at the abrupt departure, then shrugged. He was used to Gaara's ways; he knew that his friend must have something urgent to look into.

XOXOX

Three hours later, Naruto stood at the valley between the two cliffs which formed Suna's entrance. His had his backpack and his winter coat on, and was shaking hands with Gaara.

Gaara smiled as he watched the animated face of his friend. _This_ was the face he liked to see, not the sad, lonely face of earlier. He had summoned all the leaders present for the conference and had brought forward the last meeting. Though they had all been tired from the long, earlier meeting of that day, they had agreed to the Kazekage's request. As soon as the meeting had been over, he had asked Naruto to prepare for departure.

"You can still make it on Christmas day," Gaara told him. It was a three days travel form Suna to Konoha, but if Naruto speeded up, he could make it two days; thus he could reach Konoha at least on Christmas day's afternoon.

Shikamaru watched Naruto. He looked unhappy to let him go alone, but Naruto had insisted that the Nara stayed until after Christmas. He knew Temari would love to have him over for Christmas for once.

Naruto smiled reassuring at his friend. "I'll be fine," he told the worried looking Nara for the umpteenth time. "And Merry Christmas, Shika."

XOXOX

Standing on the tip of the toes, stretching her arms as far as she could, Sakura delicately placed the final touch on her small Christmas tree: the golden star topper. After she made sure that it was firmly fixed, she took a few steps back and she observed the final result. She gave a satisfied smile; her Christmas tree was beautiful.

She quickly collected the equipments which she had used to mount her Christmas tree to pack them away, and looked at the time after she was done. She still had an hour at least to get ready. She was to meet the gang for their usual Christmas Eve dinner, and for once in years, she had managed to get the half day off from work. Each previous year, she has had to rush to the dinner directly from the hospital, still wearing her working clothes. For once, she would be able to dress up; and her tough luck, a certain blond would not be here to see it.

She sighed, and looked outside her window, at the falling snow. The scenery was pure white – a fairy like Christmas setting.

The atmosphere was animated and festive; it was Christmas Eve, after all. People were milling about, shops brightly decorated and loud Christmas carols could be heard. She thought about the dinner, looking forward to meet all the gang, but which would lack the main party life – the blond knuckle head that was her teammate.

She missed him.

She was still irked that he had to go for a mission during such times. She understood that he was the only choice; Tsunade had explained that, but still…Sakura had so badly wanted to go along, but she had been needed at the hospital. She had not dared insist with Tsunade; not without a very valid reason.

She scowled again. Why did it have to be during this time? She thought. But then, who was she to be so possessive about his time. Only a girlfriend, a fiancée or a wife had the right to be so possessive, and she was none of these. She was his _friend_. Though she had since long wanted things to progress further, she did not know how it could be done. And she could not take the step; she was the one to do it the last time, albeit very clumsily, right after the Pain invasion, with disastrous results. It was up to him to take the initiative now, if he wanted.

She sighed, not knowing for what exactly. Then decided that she needed to get started, otherwise she would be late for the dinner, which was scheduled at 8:00, at a small cozy restaurant found in the middle of town.

XOXOX

Naruto sped past the main gates, giving a loud whoop of triumph. The two guards on duty only managed to see a blur going past them.

"Was that Naruto?" one of them asked.

The second one scratched his head. "It has to be. Yellow hair, flash; who else can it be," he finally said.

Meanwhile, Naruto made a bee line for the Hokage Tower. As much as he would have liked to go directly to Sakura's place, he had to let the Hokage know that he was back. A few minutes later, after a lighting briefing, he emerged from the tower, with the promise that he would give Tsunade a full report by the morning.

It was nearly 8:00. He hoped that he would manage to catch Sakura, hoping that she had not left for the usual Christmas eve dinner that the gang usually had, otherwise he will have to scour all the restaurants in town to find them.

He had travelled non-stop since the previous afternoon, and twice had used the Fox mode for a burst of acceleration. He had made the journey between Suna and Konoha in a whooping record of 24 hours time.

He sped through the festive crowds towards her apartment, barely taking the time to enjoy the brightly illuminated streets and shops; he would do that later, at a more leisurely pace. He reached her doorstep in no time, and breathed a sigh of relief; her lights were all on, so she must still be at home.

He knocked firmly. He got a big smile ready on his face, and as soon as he heard the lock clicking open, he started:

"Merry Christm_whoa! Wow!"

He stopped in mid-stride. He looked at the stunning image in front of him.

"Naruto!" Sakura looked at him incredulously. "You're here! How? What are you…Aren't you supposed to be in Suna?" she exclaimed, her phrases coming out on top of each other, astonished and elated to see him.

Naruto was too busy looking her up and down to really notice her stammering, though. She looked fabulous in the champagne colored dress that she was wearing. It was a simple dress, spaghetti strapped and knee length, but the simplicity of the cut and the shimmering fabric was stunning, curving her slim shape to perfection.

"Wow, Sakura-Chan, you look wonderful," he said, his eyes alight with a male pleasure as he looked at her. And to think he almost missed this. It was very rare that Sakura dressed up; in fact, he could not even remember when she wore anything apart her working uniform for the last time.

"Oh," she flustered, blushing. Naruto's compliment took her short. The warm, open masculine appreciative glint in his eyes was not really something she was accustomed with.

She shivered suddenly as the chilled temperature got to her.

"Oh, come in," she exclaimed, realizing that he must be freezing standing outside in the snow.

"How come you're here?" she asked again a short while later, after she handed him a large fluffy warm towel to dry his hair.

"The meeting finished earlier," he replied, not going into details. He did not want to tell her that he had made the journey in 24 hours; not yet anyway. She would surely give him a lecture about being so reckless and would fret un-necessarily.

"The Christmas tree is nice," he exclaimed, admiring the small handiwork. "You've already put the topper," he said, disappointed. Usually, each year, he was the one to put her topper; he was taller than her by one foot, so he was more apt to do it.

Sakura looked at him in exasperation, noting his disappointment. "I didn't know you would be here so early, baka. You were expected by next week!"

He chuckled sheepishly. "Yeah, true," he agreed. "Oh, I got you something," he said, remembering her gift.

Removing his back-pack, he quickly rummaged through the contents. He had asked the jeweller to pack the earring separately, and got out the smallest parcel of the two, which contained the earrings.

"Here, Merry Christmas, Sakura-Chan," he said, smiling softly.

Sakura took the small wrapped gift, smiling back. "Thank you, Naruto. I'll get yours in a minute. Merry Christmas to you too," she said, and raised her head to brush her lips against his cheeks; their usual Christmas greeting habit.

At least, that was what she had been intending to do. It was what they had been doing each Christmas, giving each other a kiss on the cheeks.

But Naruto, still in the europhia of making it home on time, and seeing her so prettily dressed up, had not been following her cues. He had been about to ask her for her evening plans. And simultaneously as she had raised her lips to his cheeks, he had turned to talk to her.

And instead of his cheeks, her lips met his firm, still cold from snow lips.

Both froze.

Sakura's eyes widened, almost taking up her whole face. Her lips quivered in shock underneath his, and they both stayed rooted, incapable of any further movements. Her brain screamed for her to move, but she was still shocked still. Then, with an audible gasp, she made to move off.

Drove by an instinct unknown to himself, Naruto's arms instantly snaked around her waist; pinning her in place. And as she had been automatically moving her head back, he followed her motion and moved his own head forward, maintaining their lips in contact.

He closed his eyes, and slowly, tentatively, moved his lips, feeling her softness, her warmth. He wanted, no, _needed_ to feel her. He has longed so much for this, for so long, that all cautions were thrown to the wind. He would deal with the consequences later, was his last coherent thought, for now, he oh so much wanted this.

Sakura's heartbeat had picked up speed, and she felt her whole being quivering at the slow movements of his lips against her own and the warm arms which encircled her close to him.

Not knowing when, her own eyes closed, and with a shaky sigh, she gave in to the bliss of his exploring lips – soon, his hot exploring tongue.

They surfaced a while later, not knowing exactly how long later, having been so deeply immersed into each other. Both were breathing hard, cheeks flushed, and Naruto leaned his forehead against hers, his eyes still closed, feeling tipsy and intoxicated by her feel, taste and sweet scent.

"Naruto." She was the first one to break the silence, her voice whispery, shaky and full of questions.

Blue cerulean eyes were slowly revealed as he opened his eyes to look into the wide green orbs. "I love you, Sakura," he said simply.

He could not find further words to express how he felt right then. He hugged her closer, burying his face into her hair, inhaling deeply. "I love you," he whispered achingly.

She hugged him back, her heart singing, eyes shining with unshed tears of happiness. "I love you too," she whispered back, and his breath hitched.

Somewhere deep within, though, her words were not so surprising to him. Somehow, he had always known that she loved him. Her actions had always screamed her love to him, but he had been too insecure to act on it.

He gave a shaky, happy laugh, and held her close to him. They just stood there, enjoying their coming together wordlessly, no more further words needed.

XOXOX

Much later…they reached the restaurant where they were to meet the others for dinner. They made a striking couple. Sakura had worn a tan knee length boots, and a tan coat reaching the same length as her dress. The emerald earring dangled from her ears, the necklace settling against her neck and the ring adorning her finger. She was officially engaged to Uzumaki Naruto.

Naruto as well looked striking with a black shirt and black pants. His hair was still damp; they had rushed to his apartment, where he had taken a quick shower.

Naruto smiled as he looked down at his fiancée. He had teasingly invited her to join him for his shower; and had watched delightfully as she had blushed plum red…before receiving one of her usual punch on the head. He rubbed his still tender head, grinning inwardly. He hoped he would have that pleasure soon.

As soon as they crossed the threshold of the crowded restaurant, they saw Ino waving to them. The Yamanaka girl immediately came across to meet them.

"Naruto! You're back already?" she exclaimed, happy to see the blond. She then noticed their joined hands.

Sakura never thought that she would be the hand holding type, but she found that she needed to touch him. She could not help it, but after the long years pinning for him, she did not want to lose any opportunity now. And Naruto was far from complaining about it. When she caught hold of his hand earlier while they set out, he had looked surprised, then delighted, and had laced his fingers through hers.

And now he latched to her, not easing his grasp when Ino opened her mouth wordlessly, agitatedly pointing her finger towards their clasped hands.

"You did it!" she finally squealed, looking at her two friends, her eyes excited and happy. "It was high time!" And before the new couple could place a word, the blond girl turned towards the table at the far end of the room, where all the gang was awaiting them.

"Guys, the Uzumaki _couple_ has finally arrived!" she yelled.

Not only the gang, but the whole restaurant heard her. Sakura sweatdropped, then blushed. Naruto laughed, and they slowly made their way through the congratulating crowd.

"Merry Christmas," Naruto and Sakura wished their friends as they all finally settled down.

They all chorused back, "Merry Christmas!"

The End.


End file.
